School of Seven Bells - Ghostory (2012)

Country: U.S.A.
Genre: Dream Pop
Label Number: VR707;GI-154
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© 2012 Vagrant/Ghostly International
AllMusic Review by Andy Kellman
Claudia Deheza's exit from School of Seven Bells was not a typical case of shrinking band membership. It claimed a rare attribute and a significant attraction: sibling harmonies, once shared with remaining twin Alejandra Deheza. That's not something that can be replaced or covered up in the studio. While the absence of the twins' harmonies are missed on Ghostory, School of Seven Bells' third album, the sound of the group -- now a duo of Deheza and Ben Curtis -- is as lushly layered as ever, with spectral textures and propulsive dance rhythms, both programmed and played, equally affecting. Deheza's vocals are multi-tracked and arranged so effectively that some listeners might not long for her sister's presence. According to Deheza and Curtis, Ghostory is "the tale of a young girl named Lafaye and the ghosts that surround her life." If this concept was developed prior to the material, it evidently pushed the two to write their most open and direct material to date, evident from the album's first lines: "The light of day gives me no relief/Because I see you in everything." Past comparisons to Curve were drawn due to sonic similarities; while they would still make sense, there is a new, comparable frankness when it comes to addressing exes. Like Curve's Toni Halliday, Deheza doesn't recoil from confrontation ("You wanna take, 'cause you're a coward"), but there's a certain sense of lingering vulnerability rather than glaring bitter numbness. The album also features some of School of Seven Bells' finest light and heavy material, from the all-synths/percussion-less ballad "Reappear" to the racing "White Wind" and pummeling "When You Sing" -- the latter two of which form a potent, closing section that is cathartic and uplifting, yet palpably haunted nonetheless.

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School of Seven Bells - SVIIB (2016) ☠

 

Country: U.S.A.
Genre: Indie Pop
Label Number: 538183882
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☠: Selected by Lass

© 2016 Vagrant Records
AllMusic Review by Andy Kellman
SVIIB is an atypical posthumous release. Although the fourth and presumably final School of Seven Bells album was released in 2016, over two years after the death of the duo's Benjamin Curtis, almost all of it was conceived in 2012, before Curtis learned that he had cancer. Only "Confusion," a placid lament, was written after the diagnosis, recorded during a brief hospital respite from treatment. Over a somnolent, almost Angelo Badalamenti-like synthesizer wash and a muted keyboard melody, Alejandra Deheza is mystified and numbed by the present, unsure of the future: "We spent so long facing the days together that I forgot how to be different from us." At some point during deep mourning that involved a relocation from New York to Los Angeles, a restorative move inspired by a desert trip to shoot a video for the duo's non-album cover of Joey Ramone's "I Got Knocked Down (But I'll Get Up)," Deheza evidently remembered and regained her creative strength. She opened Curtis' laptop, and with help from his brother Brandon, organized the raw materials of SVIIB. Shaped and completed in the studio with Justin Meldal-Johnsen, a multi-instrumentalist and producer known most for his work with Beck and M83, SVIIB smoothly succeeds Ghostory and the Put Your Sad Down EP. Those 2012 releases involved an increase in the use of drum machines and synthesizers, and here, the duo's sound is more electronic-oriented, neater, and more muscular than ever. None of the nine fully formed songs here, however, completely forsakes its dream pop origin. The best synthesis occurs on "Signals"; the verses have all the booming low end and lustful assertion of classic freestyle, while the chorus slams into a combination of storming guitars and twinkling melodies as dazzling as any moment on Alpinisms or Disconnect from Desire. What clearly sets this apart from previous School of Seven Bells releases is the absence of characters and spirits. It's all about Deheza and Curtis, a decade-long partnership, split in romantic and platonic halves -- and creative throughout -- that is radiantly illustrated with expressions of bliss, frustration, consolation, reassurance, and, ultimately, grief. It ends School of Seven Bells in moving form and suggests a new and vital start for Deheza.

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KMD - B**** B******* (2000)

*Recorded in 1993 and intended for a 1994 release but was shelved by Elektra Records. 

It was officially released in 2000 by Readyrock Records

Contains 14 tracks total.

Country: U.S.A.
Genre: Hip-Hop
Label Number: RR2001
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© 1994-2000 Readyrock Records
AllMusic Review by Douglas Siwek
Originally scheduled for release back in 1994 but scrapped due to controversial cover art, K.M.D.'s follow-up to their debut Mr. Hood was considered to be one of the Holy Grail records in the annals of hip-hop history. The death of group member Sub-Roc in a car accident squashed the future of K.M.D. shortly after it was recorded. Employing ideals and samples from the album The Blue Guerilla by Kain of the Last Poets, the tone of this record was to be dramatically different than their first, which was lighthearted and playful while still spreading a message about racial stereotypes. Volatile yet poignant tracks like "What a N**** Know" and "B**** B*******!" are hip-hop fireballs. Subjects like alcoholism ("Sweet Premium Wine"), drug use ("Smokin' That S*#%"), and women ("Plumskinzz") were all touched upon with incendiary tones. The sound of the record is very raw and sounds unfinished due to Elektra shelving the project, but it doesn't take away from the magic that would have made this a suitable follow-up.

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Foo Fighters - Medicine At Midnight (2021)

Country: U.S.A.
Genre: Alternative Rock
Label Number: 19439-78836-2
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© 2021 RCA/Roswell Records
AllMusic Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Right before its release in early 2021, Dave Grohl called Medicine at Midnight the Foo Fighters' "Saturday Night party album" -- a self-evaluation that turns out to be pretty accurate. It also functions as an acknowledgment of an open secret within the band's catalog: for all their attributes, the Foos have rarely been "fun." Foo Fighters fix that deficit by diving head on into disco and dance, the syncopations and polyrhythms so dominating Medicine at Midnight that the four-on-the-floor rock & roll ravers almost seem diminished in comparison. Dance-rock isn't necessarily the height of exploration -- the Rolling Stones cut disco the second they could back in the 1970s -- but Foo Fighters have adhered to rock & roll basics for so long, the shift in rhythms seems nearly as giddy as the group's unexpected celebration of the power of the hook. Big riffs battle with the kind of nagging singalong choruses the band have avoided over the years, a combination that makes Medicine at Midnight rush by with the intoxication of a good night out. Ballads are still part of the equation -- there's "Waiting on a War," a reflection of a lifetime spent in the shadow of combat that builds to a cathartic crescendo, plus the dreamy "Chasing Bird," which is the closest Foo Fighters have ever come to soul -- but they provide necessary breathing room on a record that needs a brief respite from the relentless velocity of the rockers. The speed is crucial to the album's appeal, of course: Medicine at Midnight is a speedy, hooky, and efficient record, every bit the party album Grohl promised.

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Pixies - Indie Cindy (2014)

Country: U.S.A.
Genre: Alternative Rock
Label Number: PM006CDX
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© 2014 Pixies Music
AllMusic Review by Heather Phares
Unlike the slew of legendary acts -- including My Bloody Valentine, Boards of Canada, and Daft Punk -- who surprised fans with new albums in 2013, Pixies emerged from their lengthy recording hiatus more cautiously. By releasing a series of EPs that were eventually collected as Indie Cindy for 2014's Record Store Day, the band eased fans into their new material -- and, perhaps, gave them time to lower their expectations. Indie Cindy may be most notable for illustrating the pitfalls genre-defining artists face when attempting a comeback: Pixies had such an impact on how indie rock sounded in their wake that upon their return, it's almost inevitable that they sound like they're aping themselves. It doesn't help that the band's first new material in almost a quarter-century is also the first without founding bassist Kim Deal (her insistent eighth notes are mimicked by session player Ding). However, her absence is the least of Indie Cindy's problems. "Bagboy," the reunited band's first single, features a collision of drum machines and surreal spoken word that suggests a failed collaboration between David Lynch and LCD Soundsystem -- but at least it shows some creativity. It's more worrying that much of Indie Cindy feels like it was written to fit specific niches: "Blue Eyed Hexe," a "U-Mass"-like rocker, proves Black Francis' scream is still spine-tingling, but the song plods. Even if the album just isn't as nimble as the best work from Pixies or Frank Black, it feels like what the band would be doing two decades on from their peak even if they hadn't taken a break. Aside from "Snakes," which tempers the biblical post-punk of their early work into something resigned instead of vengeful, most of these songs continue the sci-fi riff rock of the band's later albums and Francis' first two solo albums (producer Gil Norton even suggested that the bandmembers pretend that they'd spent their hiatus touring in outer space). "What Goes Boom" sounds like a beefier version of "Alec Eiffel," while "Indie Cindy"'s mix of shouty, stream-of-consciousness verses and dreamy interludes recalls Frank Black's "Los Angeles" more than his Pixies work. The least contrived songs are the best: "Magdalena" creates tension between its heavy guitars and soft vocals in a way that's less expected than the band's famed loud-quiet-loud dynamics. Meanwhile, "Greens and Blues" combines the album's spacy motif with heartfelt songwriting and lyrical guitar work from Joey Santiago, who also helps elevate "Jaime Bravo" and "Ring the Bell." Still, there's no escaping that Indie Cindy is an odd return. It plays more like a collection of B-sides than a true album, and it's laced with goodbyes and a sense of sadness that feel more like closure than catching up. Arguably, it fares better as a decent Frank Black album than an anticlimactic Pixies album, and fans who can appreciate that these songs don't diminish the legacy of the band's previous music will probably enjoy it the most.

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Pixies - Head Carrier (2016)

Country: U.S.A.
Genre: Alternative Rock
Label Number: PM018CDX
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© 2016 Pixies Music
AllMusic Review by Heather Phares
Though they crafted a signature -- and endlessly copied -- style, Pixies' music never stayed in the same place for long. During their early years, the band relished change, moving from Come on Pilgrim's scrappy apocalyptic visions to Doolittle's gleaming pop to Trompe Le Monde's riff-rock at a rapid pace. Indeed, it could be argued that part of the reason their 2014 comeback Indie Cindy underwhelmed was because it tried too hard to recapture the past. On Head Carrier, Pixies usher in more than a few changes, the biggest being bassist Paz Lenchantin. Replacing a member may be inconsequential for some bands, but for this one, it's a big deal (pun intended): Founding bassist Kim Deal departed prior to Indie Cindy, and the use of a session player on the album only underscored that a vital part of the group's appeal was missing. Thanks to Lenchantin, Pixies sound like a full -- if slightly different -- band again, whether she's sweetening "Oona"'s crunch with her harmonies or helping shape the album's character in general. The rest of the band's ease at having her in the fold is audible, and Head Carrier is a surprisingly nice album. "Classic Masher" and "Bel Esprit" recall the amiable jangle of "Here Comes Your Man" and the band's cover of "Winterlong," and the easygoing vibe continues on "All the Saints"' slo-mo surf and "Plaster of Paris." However, the niceness turns strange on "All I Think About Now." A musical thank-you note to Deal written by Black Francis and sung by Lenchantin that shamelessly borrows from "Where Is My Mind?," it manages to be both jarring and overly nostalgic. As on Indie Cindy, when the band looks back too much, it feels forced; "Baals Back" is shrieky and Biblical, but lacks the true oddness of their best songs about fire and brimstone. Fortunately, the high-speed chase that is "Um Chagga Lagga" and the roaring title track are in the vein of Pixies' classic rockers without feeling contrived. "Talent" is even better, a piece of satirical, snotty garage-rock that reaffirms Francis doesn't need to sing about the Bible or aliens to let loose. While it feels like Pixies are still figuring out how to continue their legacy, Head Carrier's best moments suggest they're heading in the right direction.

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Jayo Felony - Take a Ride (1995)

Country: U.S.A.
Genre: Hip-Hop
Style: Gangsta Rap
Label Number: 697 124 038-2
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© 1995 JMJ/Rush Associated Labels
AllMusic Review by John Bush
This San Diego rapper tells inner-city tales of death and crime, but shows no solutions to the problems he explains. Jam Master Jay helps with the production.

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Jayo Felony - Underground (1999)

Country: U.S.A.
Genre: Hip-Hop
Style: Gangsta Rap
Label Number: 06197-0252-2
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© 1999 Eureka Records
*No professional reviews are available for this release.

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Jayo Felony - Crip Hop (2001)

Country: U.S.A.
Genre: Hip-Hop
Style: Gangsta Rap
Label Number: CD-71237
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© 2001 AMC American Music
AllMusic Review by Dan LeRoy
Fans of The X-Files ought to snap up this long-awaited disc from San Diego rapper Jayo Felony, since he's got a conspiracy theory to explain every obstacle he's faced in his career. Originally signed to Def Jam, Jayo's parting with the label was somewhat less than amicable, and he's been mad ever since. The main targets of his ire on Crip Hop (named in honor of his gang affiliation) are Jay-Z and Snoop Dogg, each (dis)honored with a separate track, but there's plenty of beef to go around. Which is too bad, really, because while his hot air is sometimes entertaining, Jayo's enemies list overshadows a legitimate talent. Over a series of musical, G-funk-influenced tracks, he offers personality to spare, with a powerful delivery that makes up for some of the routine gang-bangin' themes. And he shows he has an ear for the all-important hook, in off-kilter but ear-catching concoctions like the loopily chanted "Swing," as well as the impressive crossover move "She Loves Me" (which features a guest appearance by pint-sized Young Nube, all of seven years old). The biggest problem facing Jayocould be what will happen if he ever runs out of foes -- but a quick flip through the detailed liner notes to Crip Hop makes that seem like an unlikely prospect indeed.

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Original Flavor - This Is How It Is (1992)

Country: U.S.A.
Genre: Hip-Hop
Label Number: 7 82355-2
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© 1992 Atlantic Records
AllMusic Review by Stanton Swihart
In 1993, just in time to record their second album, Beyond Flavor, Damon Dash would add a buddy of his -- a young Brooklyn rapper known around the way for his superlative rhyming skills -- to the lineup of Original Flavor, one of the two groups (the other being the excellent the Future Sound) he had under contract at the time. The MC's name? Jay-Z. Only an average album, the sky was nevertheless the limit for him from there on out. The verdict was less rosy for Original Flavor as a unit, and today, if the group is remembered at all, it is only because of that early association with the Jigga man. In actuality, the primary catalyst behind the crew was producer Ski, who later would go on to contribute a half-dozen strong tracks to Jay-Z's first two albums, and This Is How It Is turns out to be almost entirely his show. Although it is not on the whole a great outing, it definitely does have flashes. Much of the production, in fact, is quite accomplished -- terrific, even. Scratch that: On a musical level, This Is How It Is frequently verges on the magnificent, with an impressive array of clever and uncommon samples and ingenious cut-and-paste breakbeats. It will certainly surprise no one who listens to the music to know that Ski would go on to become a highly successful hired gun. He is too often let down, however, by lackluster vocal support (including his own) on This Is How It Is. It is no wonder that Dash would try to bolster the MC side of Original Flavor after the album's release. As a result, the only completely quibble-free song on which everything clicks is "Way Wit Words," breezy lyrical froth on top of an asymmetrical chunk of bop piano that is very reminiscent of the Future Sound. Otherwise listeners get such innocuous fare as "Gumdrops," or battle boastfulness that doesn't even really sound convinced by itself, all of which tends to drain the color from the songs by the time they come to a close. Rap fans drawn more to production than lyrical skills, though, will have much to enjoy if they're able to scare up a copy of the album.

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Original Flavor - Beyond Flavor (1994)

Country: U.S.A.
Genre: Hip-Hop
Label Number: 7 82508-2
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© 1994 Atlantic Records
AllMusic Review by Alex Henderson
Veteran jazz drummer Max Roach has often compared rap to bebop, and for all the differences between jazz and rap, there are, in fact, some parallels -- especially on the East Coast. Like the beboppers of the 1940s and 1950s, many New York, Philadelphia, and Boston rappers have been obsessed with technique. Anyone who has attended a hip-hop competition in any of those cities knows how technique-obsessed East Coast MCs can be; like bop icon Sonny Stitt, they view music as a form of sportsmanship and want to make sure you know how impressive their chops are. That obsession with technique is impossible to miss on 1993's Beyond Flavor, the second album by Original Flavor. This New York group is about flow, flow, and more flow, which is a different mindset from the gangsta rap mindset of many West Coast rappers. If, in 1993, you asked a hip-hop expert what the main differences between East Coast and West Coast rappers were, he/she would have responded that while the West Coast was about beats, hooks, and storytelling, the East Coast was about rhyming technique. There were many exceptions to that generalization, but Beyond Flavor does fit that stereotypical view of New York rap; Original Flavor and its allies (including a young, pre-solo career Jay-Z) spend most of this CD bragging about their rapping skills and showing off their considerable technique. When MCs have this much technique, the flow-for-the-sake-of-flow approach can be exhilarating -- even if it does wear thin after awhile. Listening to Beyond Flavor is a lot of like hearing a group of East Coast hard boppers showing you how fast they can play standards; although chops for the sake of chops has its limitations, you still find yourself admiring and enjoying the display of virtuosity.

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Soul II Soul - Volume V Believe (1995)

Country: United Kingdom
Genre: R&B
Label Number: 7243 8 40628 2 8 CDV 2739
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© 1995 Virgin Records
AllMusic Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Six years after they revolutionized R&B and soul with their debut album, Keep on Movin', Soul II Soul returned with Vol. V: Believe. Since their debut, the soul collective had been struggling to regain their position as musical innovators; in the process, they turned out two confused albums that had their moments, but nothing quite as stirring as their initial singles, which were collected on the British-only Volume IV: The Classic Singles. Believe, their fourth album of original material, doesn't necessarily make a case for Soul II Soul as pioneers in the mid-'90s, but it does represent something of a comeback. Where their two previous albums were muddled affairs, Believe is clear and confident, filled with fully formed songs. It helps that Jazzie B, the leader of the group, has persuaded former members Caron Wheeler and Penny Ford to make appearances on the album, and has recruited some genuine new talent that helps spark him into recording his best music since the group's debut. Granted, it doesn't push down many boundaries, but Believe fits comfortably into the laid-back, jazz-saturated grooves of '90s R&B.

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The Dismemberment Plan - Change (2001)

Country: U.S.A.
Genre: Indie Rock
Label Number: DI42
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© 2001 DeSoto Records
AllMusic Review by Ted Alvarez
Washington, D.C.'s the Dismemberment Plan have always felt like a band in constant evolution. !, their first album, was a scatterbrained post-punk freak-out with brilliant moments of melody peeking through; their follow-up, The Dismemberment Plan Is Terrified, refined that melody and blended it seamlessly with their angular catharsis. Their third release, Emergency & I, saw the Plan infuse their music with the disparate funk and soul undercurrents that always bubbled just below the surface, and they garnered widespread critical and commercial praise on an underground scale. It's only fitting, then, for the Dismemberment Plan to pull an about face and refocus their musical spasms and manic energy toward quiet introspection and even deeper soul on their fourth record. The aptly titled Change showcases a band testing themselves by going down an untravelled road while still maintaining their identity. Singer/guitarist/keyboardist Travis Morrison has called it a "night album," and with its somber guitars and pulsing keyboards, it's tailor-made for long, lonely walks under orange streetlights or melancholy evenings spent stargazing from a bedroom. Indeed, heartbreak and loss recur as themes throughout, from the plaintive, ambient "Automatic" to the apocalyptic depression of "Time Bomb." Travis Morrison's lyrics, consistently the best and most innovative in modern rock, plumb the depths of his own experience to embody the emotional cuts and bruises that everyone has felt. In "Come Home," Morrison copes with a breakup by begging his lover to "Come home/I cannot remember why you left/And I'd rather be happy than right this time." Alternately, in "Time Bomb," he vows revenge, claiming, "I am a time bomb and I lay forgotten at the bottom of your heart/I'm fine/Ticking away the years/'Til I blow your world apart," but he allows us to glimpse the pain beneath the anger with the final lyric, "I am a lost soul, and I send out a sickened light for anyone to see, a cry for help." At his best, Morrison achieves a brilliant sort of meta-poetry within the modern constraints of a rock song, and each track bristles with too many lyrical golden nuggets to mention. Instrumentally, the Plan has never been stronger; Morrison and Jason Caddell's guitars snarl and tremble on the paranoia-fueled "Secret Curse," and bassist Eric Axelson can morph to any shade between a rubbery, loping bounce and a tight, aggressive bite. Drummer Joe Easley skitters and bops throughout, and his live drum-and-bass performance on "The Other Side" is a rhythmic marvel. The group employs keyboards in dynamic ways that other bands can only hope to aspire to; part of this dynamism and variation likely stems from the band's rotating keyboard duties (Axelson, Morrison, and Caddell all take turns). They give the funky, springy "Ellen and Ben" extra kick with blips and squiggles that recall vintage video games, and the beautiful "Superpowers" is built around a soft, trilling keyboard riff. It's difficult to chart the Dismemberment Plan's next move; their boundless creativity is their only fence. They could turn down an entirely new musical path, or they could always revisit their equally brilliant old territory. Either way, listeners are in for an original musical experience.

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Angel Olsen - Half Way Home (2012)

Country: U.S.A.
Genre: Indie Folk, Indie Rock
Label Number: BATHETIC 68
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© 2012 Bathetic Records
AllMusic Review by Fred Thomas
With Half Way Home, her first proper solo album following some lesser EP and cassette material, Chicago songwriter Angel Olsen constructs a landscape so starkly beautiful it's surprising she can hide any of the emotional intricacies of her songs in a sound so wide open. Olsen spent some time collaborating with Bonnie "Prince" Billy on tour and singing on his records as part of the Cairo Gang, and while relating her sad-souled Americana songs to those of Bonnie Billy's wouldn't be wrong, that lazy comparison doesn't really do justice to their complexity. Half Way Home is a collection of hidden moments and gracefully wounded sounds taking notes from decades of masterfully melancholic artists. The nostalgic bounce of "The Waiting" filters an upbeat indie folk arrangement through a heavy Roy Orbison lens, spotlighting the deep loneliness locked in what comes off as a sprightly mellow rocker. Angel flits between these shades of classic '50s icons like Orbison and Patsy Cline, echoes of Joni Mitchell's '70s free-spirit wandering, and the more modernized approach shared by her indie contemporaries. On tracks like "Can't Wait Until Tomorrow" and "Always Half Strange," she manages to run through all of these styles, building from a disaffected deadpan to a soaring, yodeling crescendo. Olsen keeps the arrangements minimal for much of the album, but the more fleshed-out numbers like "Lonely Universe" and "The Sky Opened Up" have touches of '70s Euro-folk, with understated percussion, haunted vocal delays, and mumbling bass bringing out touches of Fairport Convention or even the muted sorrow of Sibylle Baier. It's the understatement that makes Half Way Home such a heart-wrenching and gorgeous listen. By album closer "Tiniest Seed," Olsen has laid out a transfixing set of tunes that fold back into a softy crushing whole. Bare-bones harmonies, restrained instrumentation, and Olsen's brilliantly isolated musical persona result in an album to return to repeatedly, with new layers revealing themselves each time.

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Angel Olsen - Burn Your Fire For No Witness (2014)

Country: U.S.A.
Genre: Indie Rock
Label Number: JAG244
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© 2014 Jagjaguwar
AllMusic Review by Fred Thomas
When Angel Olsen's proper debut, Half Way Home, materialized in 2012, its spare indie folk compositions and subtle references to the greats of '50s country congealed into a restless whole. The album was great, but something in the way the songs connected with each other suggested that Olsen had something far more complex to say that wasn't quite getting through with Half Way Home, despite its fantastically crafted offerings. With Burn Your Fire for No Witness, Olsen expands in all directions, fully reaching the depth of expression hinted at on her last album while still lingering in the restlessness and searching feelings that make all of her work so captivating. Production work from John Congelton adds a different dimension to Olsen's sound, and many of the songs are bolstered with tasteful playing from drummer Josh Jaeger and bassist Stewart Bronaugh, as well as touches of organ, piano, and other various supportive sounds. More than anything, however, the heightened production and instrumentation just help to show how much Olsen's songs have grown and how confident she's become as a performer, even in the space of one album. While still bearing some similarities to Roy Orbison or lesser-known mid-'90s indie singer Edith Frost, Olsen's voice feels more fearlessly her own here, stepping out of the muted shadows to bellow and wail like some wild hybrid of PJ Harvey and Emmylou Harris on a rocking track like "Forgiven/Forgotten" or the more country-seeped "Hi-Five." The heartbreaking seven-minute dirge "White Fire" follows obviously in the footsteps of Leonard Cohen, but manages to succeed in its ambitious tribute, dire and personal rather than simple mimicry. The album seamlessly strolls from soaring numbers like "Lights Out" into a more stripped-down second half before ending with the gorgeous and inspired "Windows." The song's multi-tracked vocals and pained melody get into different territory than anything else on the record, leaving the door open for what's to come next and suggesting that Olsen will continue to push her development exponentially with her next album.

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Angel Olsen - My Woman (2016) ☠

Country: U.S.A.
Genre: Indie Rock
Label Number: JAG284
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☠: Selected by Lass

© 2016 Jagjaguwar
AllMusic Review by Marcy Donelson

Following the acclaimed Burn Your Fire for No Witness and its expanded sound by two-and-a-half years, idiosyncratic singer/songwriter Angel Olsen broadens her palette even more on LP four, My Woman. Now with a long enough discography to note trends, she's made a steady transformation from tormented acoustic crooner to veritable indie rock songstress, if one still capable of the most intimate of deliveries. My Woman has the full range on display, including some electronics and extroversion not heard from her previously, as dictated by a loose story arc that follows the stages of a doomed relationship, all told from a woman's point of view. The album was recorded live to tape with a five-piece backing band at Vox Studios in Los Angeles.

In the ambivalent opener, "Intern," our heroine reluctantly decides to have one last go at love, foreshadowing with "Doesn’t matter who you are or what you do/Something in the world will make a fool of you." The song's atmospheric electronics, a first for Olsen, brace listeners for that expanded palette from the opening seconds. A couple of tracks later is the infectious "Shut Up Kiss Me." Also unlike any of her prior material, it's an aggressive retro rocker that captures unbridled passion and lust ("I ain't giving up tonight"). Co-dependency sets in on "Give It Up," and insecurity follows on "Not Gonna Kill You," both full-band, electric-guitar tunes. Arrangements get sparer as the subject matter gets more philosophical and despondent, such as on the artful "Sister," a dusty, nearly eight-minute epic that bargains with the future. Soon, "Those Were the Days" wonders "Will you ever know the same love that I know?" The breathy torch song is devoid of the singer's trademark heart-aching yodel, forgoing past country styling for low-key jazz-rock. In stark contrast to some of the other songs on the record, the closer, "Pops," is a solo piano dirge that bookends the album with its somber opener ("I'll be the thing that lives in the dream when it's gone").

While some tracks will surprise established fans, to say that My Woman is a departure or style swap for Olsen doesn't really take into account the album as a whole. The elements that are new here play out like a means to an end for a songwriter with a tale to tell, one chock-full of raw emotions. The songs stand just fine on their own, too, out of context. So, load up the playlists, but consider giving the album a proper front-to-back play through at least once for old time's sake.

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Angel Olsen - All Mirrors (2019)

Country: U.S.A.
Genre: Dream Pop
Label Number: JAG344
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© 2019 Jagjaguwar
AllMusic Review by Marcy Donelson

When Angel Olsen first emerged as a solo artist in the early 2010s, it was with a spare, haunting acoustic lo-fi that put all focus on her vulnerable, idiosyncratic vocal delivery. As she shifted from country-inflected indie folk to a brooding, more volatile garage-rock blend over the course of her next couple albums, even adding synths to the mix on 2017's My Woman, she managed to keep her tormented songs distinctly intimate. She does it again on All Mirrors, even when lavish arrangements and sometimes seismic production make full use of a 14-piece orchestra alongside guitars, synths, and a thundering low end. All Mirrors was co-produced by Olsen and Burn Your Fire for No Witness' John Congleton, who also mixed it, and features string arrangements by Jherek Bischoff and Ben Babbitt. Babbitt also co-wrote some of the music with Olsen. (The lyrics are all Olsen.) Opening track "Lark" sets the stage, developing from a reticent mumble over distant-sounding strings to a yelping, echoing symphonic pop and back again. "Echoing" may be understating it; the song and much of the studio-made album sound like they were recorded in a cathedral, with instruments simmering at a distance before closing in on the singer at opportune moments. Meanwhile, she fills the reverberating expanses with pleas, frustrations, and sad epiphanies on a set of songs concerned with deciding to walk away from toxic relationships, as the track list guides listeners through "Spring," "Summer," and "Endgame." Amid more theatrical entries, "Too Easy" takes on a dreamy, synth-heavy semi-disco ("Any way you want to, honey/Take me, show me how you want me"). Elsewhere, the devastating "Tonight" sounds as if delivered through tears, combining half-exhaled vocals with the elegant Romanticism of its orchestra accompaniment. The album closes on "Chance," a dramatic, cabaret-style offering that executes the lyrics "It's hard to say forever love/Forever is just so far" with a confident if quivering lilt.

All Mirrors was originally conceived as a double album with solo renditions of the same songs, but as the fully realized tracks took shape, Olsen committed to a definitive version. Though she may have initially built her reputation on stark and brittle atmospheres, it turns out that her trademark vulnerability is only elevated by these stirring, highly stylized interpretations, making it a risk that pays off in spades.

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Ed O.G. & Da Bulldogs - Life of a Kid In The Ghetto (1991) ⚓

Country: U.S.A.
Genre: Hip-Hop
Label Number: 848 326-2
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© 1991 PWL America/Mercury Records
AllMusic Review by Andy Kellman
Life of a Kid in the Ghetto contains a pair of message-oriented singles that sounded like classics in 1991. Neither one peaked inside the Top 50 of Billboard's R&B/hip-hop chart, but they did get a little exposure on Yo! MTV Raps and on some of the more adventurous black radio stations. Had they been released a few years later, they wouldn't have stood any kind of chance. "I Got to Have It" touches upon a number of issues (black-on-black crime, drug abuse, inattentive parents), but it's easy to lose in Awesome 2's easygoing, Bohannon-sampling production work. "Be a Father to Your Child," one of sharpest message songs released within any genre, is eternally relevant and replayable, thanks to Ed's plainspoken rhymes and a loping groove assisted by the Roy Ayers Ubiquity's "Searching." Beyond those two songs, there's not quite enough hot material to warrant classic album status, but there's plenty to recommend it. The album is almost evenly split between the addressing topical matters (the agitated but humor-laced "Dedicated to the Right Wingers," the powerful "Speak Upon It") and clowning around ("Bug-A-Boo," "Feel Like a Nut"), and unlike a lot of groups who specialized in one approach but not the other, Ed O.G & da Bulldogs are adept at both.

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Ed O.G. & Da Bulldogs - Roxbury 02119 (1994) ⚓

Country: U.S.A.
Genre: Hip-Hop
Label Number: 314 518 161-2
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© 1993 Chemistry/Mercury Records
AllMusic Review by Andy Kellman
The second Ed O.G & da Bulldogs album opens with a first-person drug slinging tale. Bleak and even claustrophobic, "Streets of the Ghetto" is no glorification, nowhere near celebratory. Instead, the track conveys the realities of the trade while outlining how a person with severely limited options can be lured into it. "Streets" sets the tone for Roxbury 02119, generally a more serious and tense album than Life of a Kid in the Ghetto. While rap was going harder in 1993 than it was in 1991, Ed O.G's shift is natural with no apparent desire to cash in on the increasingly prevailing trend. It's where his head was at, enhanced greatly by a handful of Diamond's most overlooked productions, as well as a batch of relatively playful tracks helmed by Awesome 2 Productions (Teddy Tedd, Special K, and their many associates). "Streets," "Busted," "Skinny Dip," "I Thought Ya Knew," and "Dat Ain't Right" have all the trademarks of Diamond's most-loved tracks: nerved-up breaks, distant squealing horns, thumping basslines, and the constant sense that something major is about to go down. (He'd be a natural at film scoring.) Unfortunately, nothing clicked like the singles from Life of a Kid in the Ghetto, and the album quickly became an undeserving obscurity.

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The Halo Benders - The Rebels Not In (1998)

Country: U.S.A.
Genre: Indie Rock
Label Number: KLP 81
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© 1998 K
AllMusic Review by Marc Ruxin
Once again, Calvin Johnson and Dug Martsch have united to crank out some of the weirdest, most oddly danceable tunes this side of King Kong. On The Rebels Not In, the third full-length effort from the Halo Benders, the duo does a much better job of vocal harmonizing than on their two prior albums, trading deep wails for off-key whines in their own unique fashion. Vocally, this record belongs largely to Calvin, accompanied largely by the trademark shimmering guitar work of Martsch. Opening with "Virginia Reel Around the Fountain," the band takes a far-removed stab at the Smiths classic by combining their trademark zany lyrics with melodramatic teenage angst. "Lonesome Sundown" best exemplifies the wonderful creativity that results from the union of the principal songwriters from Built To Spill and Beat Happening. The Rebels Not In is easily their most accessible effort yet, filled with upbeat, weird and wonderful tunes and a beat so catchy it's often difficult to stop your feet from tapping.

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